Apoptotic Pathways Triggered By HIV1

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Description

Viruses have evolved numerous mechanisms to evade the host immune system and one of the strategies developed by HIV1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1) is to activate apoptotic programmes that destroy immune effectors. Not only does the HIV genome encode pro-apoptotic proteins, which kill both infected and uninfected lymphocytes through either members of the TNF(Tumor-Necrosis Factor) family or the mitochondrial pathway, but it also creates a state of chronic immune activation that is responsible for the exacerbation of physiological mechanisms of clonal deletion.

The adaptive immune response against HIV1 and other pathogenic viruses requires members of MHC-I (Major Histocompatibility Complex Class-I) to present viral antigens on the surface of infected cells. HIV1 uses its multifunctional early gene products to attenuate MHC-I cell surface [...]